Geneva (EFE).- The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the scientific arm of the United Nations, warned today that temperatures can be expected to continue rising, after last month’s record as the hottest June in the history of which there are records and two average daily temperature records this week.
“The exceptional warming in June and the beginning of July have occurred when the El Niño phenomenon begins to develop, which is expected to increase the heat both on land and in the oceans and lead to more extreme temperatures and marine heat waves” said WMO Director of Climate Services Chris Hewitt.
In June, a temperature 0.5 degrees above the average was recorded between 1991 and 2020, surpassing the monthly average temperature record for that same month in 2019, according to data from the European Copernicus system.
On the other hand, the average global temperature on the planet’s surface set a record of 17.18 degrees Celsius (62.92 Fahrenheit) on Tuesday, July 4.
More temperature records expected
Hewitt indicated that “more records can be expected as El Niño progresses and its impacts extend until 2024, which is worrying news for the planet.”
The WMO pointed out that global comparisons of daily temperatures are only possible through reanalysis (combination of satellite simulations and computer models), while this same organization uses a combination of reanalysis of a data set based on observations from stations located in the land surface and on ships.
The organization’s scientist explained that sea surface temperatures have also broken records in May and June, and that this will have consequences for the distribution of fish and ocean circulation in general.
“It’s not just the surface, the entire ocean is heating up and absorbing energy that will stay there for hundreds of years. The alarms are going off very loudly for the unprecedented temperatures in the North Atlantic”, she added.
Heat waves have recently been observed in the Atlantic, specifically around the United Kingdom, Ireland and in the Baltic Sea.